Exactly 4 years ago today, I sat in a company-wide meeting with a "crypto expert."

He said Bitcoin was useless beyond being digital gold — and some random altcoin called Polkadot was the future. Everyone thanked him for his wisdom. We were supposed to learn from "industry experts" to keep up with trends as early-stage venture investors.

I started digging deeper into Bitcoin and calling out altcoins as scams.

A senior partner pulled me aside and tore me down:

"Are we done here?"

"You have no track record."

"Your conviction is like a religious belief."

"You're being irrational and ideological."

He laughed when I said maybe the financial system is broken. From his perspective, he couldn’t see it — because he was making a fortune pumping startups that barely existed. The irony was lost on him: the very fact that so much money was being thrown at vaporware proved just how broken the system was.

Another partner called me a spruiker — said I was trying to pump my own Bitcoin bag to get rich and dump it on others.

It was hard to hold steady when surrounded by people who benefit from the status quo.

That day, I wrote in my journal: "As of today, I've decided to leave [this company]."

Four years later, Polkadot is down 90% against Bitcoin. And it’s been the best four years of my life.

(Btw, I use a journalling app called Journey that reminds me of what I wrote x years ago today, it's useful for reflecting)